Disk inserting machine



Dec. 31, 1957 P. K. LITTLE I DISK INSERTING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet-lFiled May 18. 1954 IN V EN TOR.

A T TORNEY-S.

Dec. 31, 1957 P. K. LITTLE 2,318,006

DISK INSERTING MACHINE I I I I Filed May 18. 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 II IfINVENTOR;

Pe/er/f. Lil/16 I BY ATTORNEYS 2,818,005 Ratented Dec. 31, 1957 DISKJNSERTING IMAGHINE Peter K. Little, Pawtucket, R. 1,, ass'ignor to JohnW. Little Company, aicorporationof Rhode Island Application Mayltl,115954 Serial No. 43.0,607

'5Claims. '(Cl."93--'55.1)

This "invention relates to *a machine for insertin g disks into the endsof tubular containers, the containers normally being provided 'with {arolled end or other stop means sothatthe disk ma-y not be pulled out.

I-n the textile industry it has been =the customary practice to labelthe bobbin 'upon which yarn-is wound. This labeling has generally takenthe -form of gummed strips of paper which have "been :afiixed --'to theinner side of the tubular bobbin and which, as canltereadilyappreciated, are difficult to see without tilting the bobbinto an angle and viewing into the interior -of'the cylindrical enclosure.It is considered preferable that there be some means at the end of thebobbin, and preferably the top end, that can serve as a readyidentification means of the yarn that is wound thereupon.

It is therefore one of the objects :of this invention to provide an:apparatus in which :an identifying disk may be inserted into theinterior of aftubular bobbin.

It :isa further=object of the intlentiontto provideanautomatic apparatusin whichxthe complete :operation \will be performed by the machine by:merely :furnishing the .blank disks to a carrier :and by :feedingatubular bobbins to :an inclined .plane.

A more specific .object of the :invention isto provide a machine with aslide which'willzpicktup ra=disk to :be inserted .at onestation :and:move the LdlSk and :the :tubular bobbin to a.secondzstation'whereithedisk willzbemammed home.

With these and other objects :in "view, ithe invention consists ofcertain novel features of construction .as will be more fully describedand particularly tpflilltfid out in ;the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings;

Figure 1 "is a front elevational wiew of .my machine;

Figure 2 is a detailed ESCQfiQHaIVlBW tof the tube .carrier and slidemechanism;

Figure 3 is an end sectional view taken 2013 lines .35 of Figure 1showing the manner in which the tubular containers are advanced to the:mbecarrier andthe ejecting mechanism associated therewith;

Figure 4 a detailed secticnalwiewofrthe diskma-gazine taken on.-line.s-4-4.-of.:Ei'gure 1- Figure .5 ,is a detailed sectional wiewoftherslide :mechanism;,and

Figure 6 is an .electricalpschematic.diagram showing the manner in whichthe various-control'circuits'are associated one with theothento-efiect.the automatic operation .of-the machine.

In pr ceedingwithmy inuentiounl gprouidetanincliued guide forcylindrical tubesssotthat tthey -.will;roll on sea ube carrier-that ismounted integral with .a vertical slide member. on the other side of theslide member it provide a channeleshaped magazinein which cardboarddisks may be placed-on edge, thetmagazinecommunicating with an pening inhe slide support, the slide being provided with .an opening having arecess to .selectittels' sgrasp one disk .ata time. After .a disk hasiheen placed within (th recess in the slide, the slide and tube scanrierwhich are physically associated withea'ch other are movedupwardly untilthey are positioned opposite a ram which operates to force the disk intothe far end of thetube. After the ram has receded from the tube, theslide moves downwardly, and the cylinder with the disk inserted in theend thereof is automatically ejected from the machine.

Referring to the drawings, the machine has a suitable bed 10 withsupporting legs 11 at the ends and intermediate portions, as necessary,thereof. Upon this bed 10 there is mounted a disk magazine 12 which isprovided with two openends and two upstanding side walls 13 and 14(Figure 4). Adjacent one end of the disk ma'gazine'lz is a verticalslide mechanism generally designated 15 which consists of a slide 16mounted for reciprocation within a guideway 17. The guideway 17 issuitably fixed to the bed 10 and is providedwith a circularopening 18 toreceive the disks D from the disk magazine 12. A second opening 19 isalso provided in the guide member 17 to allow the passage of 'a ramtherethrough which will presently be described. The slide 16 is heldwithin channel guide 17 by providing beveled edges 29 (Figure 3-):thereon whichcommunicate with beveled edges in the guide 17. As will beseen by referring to Figure 5, the slide 16 is provided with asingleopening 21 therethrough which has an enlarged recess at one endthereof forming a lip .22. The depth of this recess is the same as thethickness of the disks :D so that one :disk at a time is selectivelyengaged by the slide and removed thereby. A tube carrier 25 is afiixedto the slide :16 .by bolts 26 so that it may move therewith and hassupports 27 extending therefrom with semicircular ends which are adapted.to receive the .cylindrical :tube,.-an1opening 23 being provided in thebed 10so-that tthe tube carrier and slide mechanism 15 may .pass'therethrough. -A vertical air motor 29 is connected to the slide 16 asat 30, providing motion to the slide .16 andthe tubezcarrier 25.

To :provide a .feed means for :the tubes T to the tube carrier 25, aninclined guide generally designated is mounted adjacent the tube carrier.25 allowing the cylindrical tubes to roll on to the tube carrier. Thisinclined guide includes a support arm 36 mounted :on the bed It) andcomprises two pairs of .tracks 37, .38, respectively. As shown in Figure3, these tracks are so arranged that tubes T may be placed on the tracks:37 where/they will roll to the ends 35? thereof and thence drop=on .tothe tracks 38. A retainer track such as may he provided parallel .to andspaced from the tracks 38 to prevent the tubes from jumping therefromdue to vibration. vlt will thus be apparent that the tubes T drop one byone on to the tube carrier arms 27 where their .interior diameter ispositioned for registration in line with the openings 13 and 21 in thechannel guide 17 and slide 16, respectively.

The disks D are urged to the lip 22.of'the slide 16 by means of a ramStlwhich istconnectcd to a shaft 51 that is supported in a bearing block.52. At the end of the shaft 51 thereis afixed a chain 53 which runsparallel to the shaft 51 and over a rollerSd and thenceover a secondroller 55 at the end of the bed 10 toa weight 56. This arrangementthereforeexerts an axial force along the shaft 51 which is transmittedto the .ram 50, thus forcing the disks through the opening 18 and ;to.the lip 22. It will also be noted that, through the provision of thisarrange ment, an equal axial force is exerted at all ,times throughoutthe travel of the shaft 51, which is important, inasmuch as the pressureexerted upon these disks must be uniform at all times to secure theproperoperation of the machine. It might be noted that such a resultcould not be secured by the use of a spring loadedsha'ft and ram,although other mechanisms could be substituted so long as they produce aconstant pressure at all extended positions of :the ram.

When .the vertical air .rn'o'tor 1259 is actuated, it will be noted thatthe slide 16 in conjunction with the tube carrier 25 will move upwardly,a disk D having been grasped by the lip 22 of the slide 16. As the tubeT moves upwardly, the end thereof remote from the slide 16 will engage acam surface 60 and be moved horizontally to the right as viewed inFigure 2 so that the end adjacent the slide will abut the slide 16, asshown by the broken lines in Figure 2. At the topmost position of thestroke, the tube T additionally engages stop fingers 62 to limit theupward movement thereof and to positively align tube T with the opening19. At this position a horizontal air motor 6 1-, which carries a ram65, may be actuated to force the disk D away from the lip engagingportion 22 of the slide 16, the end of the stroke of the ram 65bottoming the disk D on lip 1 of the tube T. After the ram 65 has rccecd the vertical air motor 29 reverses, lowering the tube. During thisdownward motion of the tube T it will engage the ejector arm 67 which ispivotally mounted as at 63 by means of a bracket 69 that is secured tothe bed i The motion of these ejector arms 67 is limited by a stop pin70 so that the ejector arms extend just beyond the center line of thetubes during their vertical travel.

Referring now to Figure 6, there is shown the control circuit diagram toprovide the automatic operation in the disk inserting machine. A sourceof alternating current 75 is provided, one side of which as representedby lead 76 is connected via lead 76a to one terminal of microswitch 90,the other terminal of which is connected by lead 761; to a contact 102of time delay relay 100 and also to one side of the actuating coil 101of the time delay relay, a circuit across coil 101 being completed tothe A. C. source by lead 77. A low voltage control circuit is providedby step-down transformer 110 whose primary 119p is connected across thesource of alternating current 75. The secondary of this step-downtransformer has one side thereof connected to a common return asindicated by ground 112, the other side of which as repre sented by lead78 is connected by lead 7 8a to one terminal of pressure switch 92 andby lead 78b through toggle switch s to one terminal of microswitch 93. Asecond low voltage source control potential is supplied by stepdowntransformer 111, the primary 111 of which is connected to one side ofthe source of alternating current as represented by lead 77, the otherside of the primary being connected through lead 79 to contact 133 ofthe time delay relay 100. The secondary of transformer 111 has one sidethereof connected to a common return as represented by the ground symbol112, the other side of the secondary being connected via lead 8! to oneside of advance solenoid 95a in Electroaire valve 95, the other side ofwhich is returned via a common return connection as represented byground symbol 112 to the other side of the secondary of transformer 111.For a fuller description of the operation of the Electroaire valves, thedisclosure in Patent No. 2,641,229 to L. F. R. Bellows is incorporatedherein.

In describing the operation of the disk inserting machine, let us assumethat the parts are in their position as shown in Figure 1 of the drawingand that the switches as shown in Figure 6 are in the position showntherein. It should also be assumed that the mechanism is in the positionas shown in Figure 1. In this condition it will be noted that switch 93is being engaged by the tube carrier 25, and since it is of the normallyopen type, will thereby be closed, as shown in Figure 6. Likewise theswitch 91, which is also of the normally open type, is engaged by ram 65and is also closed. Closing the switch s to start the device, it willtherefore be seen that the secondary of transformer 110 will beconnected across the solenoid coil 94a, thus energizing it. Coil 94a isthe advance coil of the Electroaire valve associated with the pneumaticmotor 29 and operates a valve to supply air from a source 125 to advancethe piston of the air motor 29, the operation of which is more fullydescribed in Patent No. 2,641,229. The tube carrier 25 and the slide 16therefore rise in a vertical direction as viewed in the drawing, andswitch 93 opens. At the top of the stroke of the tube carrier 25, thebracket 89 afiixed to the tube carrier will engage switch 90, closingthis switch, which will thereby energize coil 101 of the time delayrelay 100 by virtue of the connection from the alternating currentsupply source 75 as represented by leads 76, 7 6a, 76b, and 77 and movethe contactor arm 106 away from the contacts 104 and 105. When thecontactor 106 engages the contacts 102 and 103, this will complete acircuit across the primary 111p of transformer 111 to the source of A.C. voltage 75 by leads 77, 79, 76b, 76a and 76. The secondary oftransformer 111 is now energized and supplies a voltage as representedby lead and the common ground connection 112 to the advanced solenoidcoil a of the Electroaire valve 95, which operates as the Electroairevalve 94 just described and advances the ram 65 of the air motor 64. Asthe cylinder ram 65 is advancing, the time delay relay coil 101 movesthe contactor 106 back to position as shown in Figure 6 to complete acircuit across contacts 104 and 105. To reverse the operation of the airmotor 64, there is affixed to the cylinder at pressure switch 92, whichwill be actuated upon a certain positive pressure being exertedthereupon. Thus, when the ram 65 reaches the end of its stroke, pressurewill continue to build up by virtue of continuous supply from line 125to a point where the switch 92 will be actuated. With switch 92 closed,this will complete a circuit across the retract solenoid 95R of theElectroaire valve 95 from the secondary of transformer as represented byleads 78a and 78d and the common ground connection 112. This willretract the ram 65 until it engages the actuator arm 91a of switch 91,reclosing switch 91, and completing a circuit from the secondary oftransformer 110 across the retract solenoid 94R of the Electroaire valve94 as represented by leads 78, 78a, contactor 106, and lead 782 inconjunction with the common ground return 112. It should be noted atthis point that the switch 93 has been open during all of the precedingoperations so that voltage has been removed from across the advancesolenoid coil 94A of the Electroaire" valve 94. With the retractsolenoid 94R energized, the supply of air pressure to the piston of airmotor 29 is reversed and the slide 16 of the tube carrier 25 isretracted or lowered. As soon as the tube T releases its contact withswitch 96, coil 101 is de-energized and the time delay relay 101 isautomatically reset. As the slide 16 and tube carrier 25 are lowered,the tube T will be ejected by the ejector arm 67, and as soon as thetube carrier 25 reaches its lowermost position, it will re-engage theswitch 93, closing it, and repeating the complete cycle, an additionaltube T having fallen into the tube carrier arms 27 as soon as the tubecarrier has reached a low enough position.

I claim:

1. A machine for inserting discs in tubes comprising a mounting plate, adisc magazine mounted on said plate and adapted to support substantiallyfiat discs on their edges, a slide mounted for reciprocation on a planeperpendicular to said plate and parallel to the stored discs, said slidehaving a through bore surrounded by a recess of identical shape to theoutline of said discs, means urging said discs into said recess, a tubecarrier afiixed to said slide adjacent said bore, means feeding tubes tosaid carrier, a ram operable on an axis perpendicular to thereciprocating plane of said slide and intersecting the center of saidbore, and means to reciprocate said slide and said ram so as to firstmove the bore in said slide into alignment with said ram and thenreciprocate the ram and force a disc into a tube held in said carrier.

2. A machine as in claim 1 wherein the slide and the ram arereciprocated by air motors, said motors having solenoid actuatedreversing valves affixed thereto, and a control circuit associated withsaid reversing valves to provide sequential operation of said motors.

3. A machine for inserting discs in tubes, comprising a magazine forstoring discs in parallel relationship, a slide moving on an axisperpendicular to said magazine, said slide having means afiixed theretofor grasping the end disc in said magazine, a tube carrier affixed tosaid slide in alignment with said disc grasping means, means feedingtubes one at a time to said carrier, means positioned on an axisparallel to said slide and adapted to engage the end of the tube in saidcarrier to move it into abutting relationship with said slide as saidslide moves, a ram operable on an axis parallel to said magazine, andmeans for moving the ram against the disc gripped by said slide to forcethe disc into the tube.

4. A machine for inserting discs in tubes, comprising a horizontallydisposed magazine for storing discs edgewise in parallel relationship, aslide mounted for vertical reciprocating movement on an axisperpendicular to said magazine, said slide having means affixed theretofor grasping the end disc in said magazine, a tube carrier secured tosaid slide for reciprocating movement therewith and extending inalignment with said disc grasping means, means including an incline forfeeding tubes one at a time to said carrier and a ram spaced from saidmagazine and operable on an axis parallel to said magazine and means formoving said slide and carrier into alignment with said ram, and meansfor moving the ram against the disc gripped by said slide to force thedisc into the tube,

means for moving the tube longitudinally into abutting relation with theslide as the tube is moved into alignment with the ram.

5. A machine for inserting discs in tubes comprising a movable tubecarrier, a fixed disc magazine adapted to support substantially fiatdiscs on their edges, means affixed to said movable carrier to grasp onedisc at a time and hold it in alignment With a tube on said carrier,means exerting a constant pressure on said discs throughout their travelin said magazine, a ram operable on an axis parallel to a tube held bysaid carrier, said ram being spaced from said magazine, means to movesaid tube carrier to align said tube with said ram, means including anincline for feeding tubes one at a time to said carrier, cam meanspositioned on an axis parallel to the reciprocating axis of said carrierto engage the end of the tube and move it into abutting relationshipwith the disc grasping means, and means for moving the ram against thegripped disc to force the disc into the tube.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,053,702 Bond Feb. 18, 1913 2,180,954 Harrison Nov. 21, 1939 2,580,846Sayre et a1 Jan. 1, 1952 2,678,591 Fleming et al. May 18, 1954

